Pranab invokes the gods

NEW DELHI - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee invoked the gods Monday while presenting the budget for 2011-12, appealing to Indra, the god of rains, and Saraswati, the goddess of learning.

The invocation brought some levity in the packed Lok Sabha, listening attentively to the minister.

This is the sixth such exercise for the 75-year-old veteran politician. He tabled three budgets between 1982 and 1984. The one tabled Monday was the third successive one for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.